Blogging: the 3 Biggest Mistakes and How to Fix Them

It’s the foundation of your writers’ platform. I firmly believe that it’s impossible to make a real mistake with your blog. That said however, there are “mistakes” which will make your blog much less effective than it might be.

Mistake # 1. Blogging for “Everyone”

Over the years, you will create many blogs. Each blog needs a purpose. You’re blogging for a reason.

Your reason might be:

* To get hired as a freelance writer or blogger;

* To promote a product (ebook, or several ebooks) you’ve created;

* To make money by selling others’ products.

It’s essential to have ONE purpose for each and every blog you create. Your audience is never “everyone.”

Fix This by: Knowing Your Audience

Once you know the purpose of your blog, think about your audience. How will they find you? What keywords would they enter into a search engine to find your blog? What will they expect to read?

Most importantly of all, ask yourself what ACTION you want them to take once they reach your blog. Make it easy for them to take that action.

Mistake # 2. Blogging Without a Net (Editorial Calendar)

Years ago, you could blog every day for a month, and get traffic which remained consistent, as long as you blogged once a week or so.

It’s amazing to me that despite all the competition for attention online, you can still do that. If you blog consistently, you’ll get traffic. There are things you can do to help that traffic grow, of course. However, always remember that the goal of your blog is never traffic for its own sake. You want your traffic to do something when it reaches your blog.

Many bloggers blog consistently for a week, and they’re done. They lose heart.

This is blogging without a net, and it’s fatal. Every blog you create needs its own editorial calendar. This can be as simple as a list of blog posts you’ll create this week, or it can be hugely complex. My advice: keep it simple.

Fix This by: Creating a Calendar Today

Ensure that you blog consistently by creating an editorial calendar. If you use WordPress on your own site, there’s an excellent plugin which is called, amazingly enough, Editorial Calendar.

Mistake # 3. Blogging in a Vacuum

No blog is an island. The easiest way to get traffic to your own blog is to read other bloggers.

Read other blogs. Not only will this give you ideas for blog content you could create, it will also make you part of the community of bloggers.

Fix This by: Blog Commenting, and Using Social Media

When you comment on a blog, you’re given the option to link to your own blog. Over time, this increases the links to your blog, and your traffic.

When you comment, make sure you have something to say. Make useful comments — add to the conversation.

You can also use social media sites like Twitter and Facebook to communicate with other bloggers.

Angela Booth is a copywriter, author published by major publishers, and writing teacher. She offers many guides, courses and classes to help writers to enhance their skills at her online store.
She also provides inspiration and motivation for writers on her writing blogs. Angela has been writing successfully since the late 1970s, and was online in the 1980s, long before the birth of the Web. Her novels and business books have been widely published.

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